Squeeze bottle dispenser



Nov. 5, 1968 J. E. MCDONNELL 3,409,182

SQUEEZE BOTTLE DISPENSER Filed Nov. 8, 1966 ill United States PatentConn.

Filed Nov. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 592,933 11 Claims. (Cl. 222211) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A self-closing squeeze bottle dispenser having a dip tubeextending inward to the bottom wall from the stopper cap at the neck,and having a valve seat in the stopper cap. The bottom wall of thebottle shifts outward when the bottle is squeezed to dispense itscontents. Carried in the dip tube is a valve stem which is engageablewith the valve seat to close the same, and engageable with the bottomwall to be actuated thereby. During squeezing of the bottle, the bottomwall releases its force against the valve stem, which then falls bygravity and opens the valve seat to permit discharge of the liquidthrough the dip tube and stopper cap.

This invention relates to plastic squeeze bottle dispensers.

Objects are to provide an improved spray or squirt type dispenser andautomatic closure valve operated by v a wall of the bottle; and improveddispenser with novel automatic sealing that needs no stopper cap toprevent leakage or evaporation, with improved check valve arrangement inthe discharge cap to effect better spraying and fast recovery; toprovide a novel wall-operated automatic valve in the dispenser cap; toprovide sealing of the contents by said valve; to provide a novel andsimplified combination orifice and air intake construction; to providesimple, improved gas-passage means below the automatic valve; and adispenser having all of the foregoing, which is exceptionally simple,involves fewer parts, is not costly to make, and is reliable inoperation.

Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art when thefollowing description is read in com nection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary View, partly in side elevation and partly invertical section, of a dispenser made in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the dispenser of FIG. 1being squeezed and discharging.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the upper portion ofanother dispenser according to the invention, shown partly in verticalsection to reveal the closed valve.

FIG. 4 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection, of the dispenser of FIG. 3 being squeezed and discharging.

FIG. 5 is a view like that of FIG. 4 but showing the bottle released andsucking in air.

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section on line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal section on line 77 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is an inside elevational view of the orifice piece of thedispenser of FIGS. 3-7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of an automatic valveand gas passage construction illustrating a modification of theinvention.

FIG. 10 is a horizontal section on line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the squeeze bottle is 10, the cap is 12 and thedischarge or dip tube is '14. A plastic tear-away 3,409,182 PatentedNov. 5, 1968 membrane 16 covers the orifice 18. The bottle neck 20 hasouter circular ribs mating with inner circular grooves in the inside ofthe skirt 22 of the cap, there being a press fit.

The cap 12 has a discharge passage 24 in a depending boss 26 which ispress-fitted in the discharge tube 14. The boss 26 has four exteriorvertical ribs 28 and radial ribs 30 which space the tube 14 and permitgas or air from the upper part of the bottle to flow into the upper partof the tube 14 so as to mix with the liquid being forced up through thetube from the bottom. This means of spacing the tube to admit air is onefeature of the invention.

The invention provides an automatic valve operated by the bottle wallwhen the bottle is squeezed, to close or open the passage 24. The bottomof the boss 26 has a socket or valve seat 32 which is engaged by a valvestem 34 whose bottom end engages the bottom wall 36 of the bottle. InFIG. 1 the bottom 36 is pressing up on the stem 34, causing the top ofthe stem to press in the valve seat 32 and close the same. Neitherliquid or air can now pass through the passage 24, so the bottle isstoppered.

When the bottle v10 is squeezed as in FIG. 2, the bottom wall 36 and thevalve stem 34 move down, the latter under the action of gravity, and theseat 32 is uncovered. At the same time, the inside pressure forces theliquid up the tube 14, and forces air past the ribs 28, 30 to mix withthe liquid. The mixture passes out the orifice 18. When the bottle isreleased, it sucks air into it through the passage 24, and as the bottomwall 36 again raises toward its normal shape it lifts the valve stem upagainst the seat 32, closing the same. There is only one movable part,the valve stem 34 which is loosely carried in the dip tube 14. If theribs 28, 30 are eliminated, there will be no air mixing with the liquid,and the dispenser will squirt instead of spraying. In the small sizeshown, the plastic parts need not be too accurate to secure reliableoperation. The stopper action is wholly automatic, and the user does notknow that the liquid and air are being stoppered each time the bottle islet go of. The parts are very few, simple, easily made and assembled, sothe cost is very low. The user does not have to be bothered with aremovable and replaceable cap, at any time. The membrane 16 is torn offat the beginning, and thrown away. The small bottle is sturdy enough toquickly suck in air and restore itself, after being squeezed. Thedispenser can also be a limited use item, despensing sample quantities,one-shot charges and the like, or it can dispense drop by drop it thenozzle is made pointed.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 3-8. The bottle 40has finger grips 42 and a ribbed depressible wall 44. The bottom wall 46has two inwardly displaced or upwardly displaced half-conical portions48 which form a well 50 in which the bottom end of the discharge tube 52is disposed and guided. The bottom 46 is normally bowed upward as inFIG. 5.

The cap 54 is screwed onto the bottle neck 56, and has a dependinghollow boss 58 provided with a valve seat 60 and a discharge passage 62communicating with a horizontal discharge passage 64, according to theinvention. An orifice 66 is pressed into the passage 64.

The discharge tube 52 is press-fitted into an enlarged bore of the boss58-, said bore having vertical and radial ribs 68, 70 which space theupper end of the tube 52 from the boss at the sides of the ribs. Theinvention provides a valve stem 72 engageable with the valve seat 60 andextending through the tube 52 to engage the bottom wall 46 of thebottle. During squeezing the stem 72 is away from the seat wherebyliquid can flow up the tube 52 and through the passages 62 and 64, andout through the orifice 66, as in FIG. 4. When the bottle is released,as in FIG. 5, the air rushes in through the orifice 66, passages 64 and62, and into the bottle. Air or gas passes alongside the ribs 68, duringthe squeezing, to mix with the liquid rising in the tube 52. FIG. 3shows the stem 72 against the seat 60, after entry of air to replace thedischarged liquid. The bottom wall 46 has pushed the stem 72 up, and nowholds it against the seat 60 to seal the bottle. The stem 72 has pinchedportions or projections 74, engageable with the top edge of the tube 52to hold the stem captive in the tube.

By the invention the orifice 66 includes a back check or air inletmember 76 normally seated in a socket 78 of the orifice and held thereinby a spring 80 disposed in the passage 64. The socket 78 has tangentialgrooves 82 which swirl the liquid-air mixture as it flows past theoutside of the member 76, which is in the form of a ball. But when thebottle 40 is sucking in air, the ball 76' is shifted out of the socket78, compressing the spring 80. This provides an enlarged passage for theincoming air, so that the bottle quickly recovers its shape, ready forthe next squeeze.

The arrows in FIGS. 4 and 5 show the flow of the fluid for the twoconditions. In FIG. 3 a removable cap 84 insures against leakage duringstorage and shipment. It is discarded when the discharge is first placedin use.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show another embodiment, wherein a hollow boss 86 of acap has a seat 88 and a reduced portion 90 provided with exteriorvertical ribs and radial ribs 92, 94. The discharge tube 96 ispress-fitted over the portion 90, and the latter has an inturned head 98cooperable with projections 100 of the valve stem 102 to hold the sterncaptive.

It will now be seen that the invention provides a unique dispenser withautomatic wall-operated valve by which the bottle is automaticallystoppered after each use without requiring a conscious act on the partof the user. A very quick recovery time is had in a simple manner by theorifice with the check-valve ball. Very few moving parts are involved,all parts being simple and easily, economically produced. No capping isneeded to prevent leakage or evaporation. Both a liquid and a gas sealare effected by the one valve even though gas mixing is utilized. Thegas passage means is simple and can be accurately predetermined. Thevalve stem 72 (or 102) can be rigid plastic, can be molded if desired,and can be of larger diameter than shown, to prevent bending. Theconstruction of FIGS. 9 and 10 is especially adaptable to a largerdiameter valve stem.

In most circumstances a sufficiently quick recovery of the bottle to itsrounded-out shape is had even though the check valve ball 76 and spring80 are not incorporated at all.

A feature is that a certain amount of pressure builds up in thecontainer before the bottom wall moves down, allowing the valve stem tomove down and open the discharge. This results in a puff type ofdischarge which is often desirable.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A squeeze bottle dispenser which includes a queeze bottle having aresilient depressible wall which can be pressed inward to pressurize theinterior of the bottle, means including an orifice providing a dischargepassage from the bottle, a flow-restricting member in said passagespring urged against the inside of the orifice, said member and orificewhen engaged under spring action providing a restricted dischargechannel, said member being movable against spring action away from theorifice, thereby effecting an enlargement of the restricted channel toadmit air rapidly through the discharge passage into the bottle when thesqueezing is discontinued and the bottle tends to return to normalshape.

2. The article set forth in claim 1, in which the orifice has a socketat its inside, and grooves in said socket, leading to the opening in theorifice, said flow-restricting member comprising a ball; and a spring insaid discharge passage, engaged with said ball.

3. The article set forth in claim 1, in which the bottle has a bottomwall to stand on, a discharge tube extending from the bottle neck to apoint near the bottom wall to receive the liquid from the bottom of thebottle, a cap supported on the bottle and supporting the discharge tubeand the orifice, said cap containing part of said discharge passage, avalve seat supported bythe cap and a valve stem movable in the dischargetube and engageable with the bottom wall and with the valve seat toclose the latter and control flow through the discharge tube, saidbottom wall and valve stem moving downward when the bottle is squeezed,and the stem separating from .the valve seat to open the passagetherethrough for liquid in the discharge tube.

4. A squeeze bottle dispenser for dispensing liquids out of its top,which includes a squeeze bottle having a top neck portion and resilientdepressible side walls which latter can be pressed inward, and having aresilient bottom wall to stand on, said bottom wall flexing and movingoutward and downward when said depressible walls are pressed inward, adischarge passage means including a dip tube extending from the bottleneck portion downward to a point near the bottom wall, the bottom end ofthe dip tube being directly exposed to the bottom wall to receive theliquid directly from said bottom wall of the bottle, a cap having adischarge passage, said cap being supported on the top neck portion ofthe bottle and supporting the dip tube in communication with saiddischarge passage, a valve seat supported by the cap and a valve stemmovable in the dip tube and laterally guided solely thereby, said valvestem being loosely carried in the dip tube and constituting a loosedisconnected valve part responsive to gravity by moving longitudinallyin said tube, said stem being engageable with and directly abutting thecentral portion of the bottom wall and being engageable with the valveseat to close the latter and control flow through the dip tube, saidvalve stem being unattached to said bottom wall and said bottom wall andvalve stem moving downward when the bottle is squeezed and the stemthereby separating from the valve seat to open the passage therethroughfor liquid in the clip tube.

5. The article set forth in claim 4, in which the dip tube ispress-fitted to the cap, said valve seat being disposed in the cap abovethe press-fit connection, and in which there are means for admitting gaspast said press-fit connection, for flow through the valve seat withliquid from the dip tube.

6. The article set forth in claim 5, in which the cap has a tubularportion press-fitted to the dip tube, said gasadmitting means includinga rib on the tubular portion, spacing the dip tube slightly from thesaid portion at a side of the rib.

7. The article set forth in claim 6, in which the (lip tube ispress-fitted to the outside of said tubular portion.

8. The article set forth in claim 4, in which means are provided forholding the valve stem captive in the dip tube.

9. The article set forth in claim 8, in which the means holding thevalve stem captive comprises projections on said stem, and cooperableprojections in the cap,

10. The article set forth in claim 4, in which the stem extends thelength of the dip tube, said valve seat being disposed in said cap.

11. The article set forth in claim 4 in which the bottom wall of thebottle has upward projections engaging and guiding the dip tube, all theinteriorly exposed surfaces of the bottom wall being integral with eachother and being fully and completely exposed to both the dip tube andthe entire interior of the bottle, said bottom wall 5 constituting thesole axially-movable actuator for said valve stem, said stem directlyabutting said bottom wall and having force continuously exerted on it bythe bottom wall when the bottle is not being squeezed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,778,291 10/1930 Burke 222-211 X2,113,695 4/1938 Krannak 222-518 X 6 2,631,064 3/1953 Tupper 239-3272,980,342 4/1961 Armour 222-211 X 3,154,222 10/1964 Heckman 222-213FOREIGN PATENTS 329,477 6/ 195 8 Switzerland.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. F. R. HANDREN, Assistant Examiner.

